Should I advertise my artistic services?

[Number Three]

Hello.

I'm an emerging artist, and so far most of the money I've made off of my art has been word of mouth, and until very recently through freelancing sites like oDesk and Elance.

I have a strong stance against advertising because I feel like it's "cheating". But after seeing some videos on youtube about freelancing as an illustrator, I realized if I'm advertising to certain people it might not feel as "slimy".

do any of you more successful artists out there use advertising (factor it into your budget somehow) or is it all word of mouth? Do you have any suggestions on services I could use to advertise with? (facebook, google adsense, local newspaper, things I might not have heard of at all etc. )

I ask this because when I was interning a year ago, "word of mouth" was all the gallery I interned at used to get people to come. There were a lot of regulars but not a lot else, so for about a year I was convinced that that's the way you did it.

[determined]

Why not try a variety of techniques? Look up more examples of what people have done well in, and learn the tricks of the trade. Look up trends and where they are moving. Try Youtube for some great ideas.

You should continue word of mouth, but often if you're able to establish a fan base especially on the Internet from Youtube, Facebook, Twitter etc. then it would be great. It is extremely hard to do well in this field, considering the massive pools of others. So you'll need an edge that can separate yourself out, and the support to get the word out. It's really hard to start off, but once you're off it can be really rewarding. Perhaps you could also look up some Yahoo Answers questions and answer their questions with a suggestion to your page if you feel it may help them! I've only tried this a few times on another account, but I was fortunate enough to have the great help from people who I have never met before share a link on their Twitter page to all their friends because I helped them on a question (I didn't even ask them to share it, just to help by visiting the link and voting for it for a competition!). The page wasn't even mine, I was just supporting another Youtube user.

The great thing about it is that those who actually subscribe/like/follow your Youtube/Facebook/etc will be those who actually appreciate what you do. So you'll be talking especially to an audience who want to know more.

I apologise for not being able to further help you, but as of yet no one has replied so I felt that some opinions are better than nothing. It's a really hard world out there, and there is no easy way to do well. Good luck.

[fhotoace]

No business plan will survive without a marketing plan (advertising)

Most of us have a website and literally make cold calls on prospective buyers of our services. There are local "art shows", but they will never really provide you with the income necessary to support a business, let alone a family

You need to nail down your cost of doing business before you can even start to attach prices for your work and services.

Here is what photographers use to determine what it costs to run a business and how much they have to make on a day to day basis to stay in business and provide for their families.

https://nppa.org/calculator

Some of the items listed do not apply to you, but most do.

After you determine what it costs you do be in business, you will have a much better idea of what you have to do. This will include what you consider "cheating" promoting your by advertising and promoting your business.

It may be helpful to talk to some successful artists working in the advertising industry and see what they have done to promote themselves to the point that they are working steadily for advertising agencies.